The Sky Above

There was a couple standing on the side of the road. They were in their yard - well, a yard presumed to be theirs. Their back was to the car coming around the sharp curve. They stood dead still, hips touching. The taller of the two - not that he had much height. He appeared to be around 5’4” but still was a head taller than the figure that stood with him - had his arm on the shoulder of the woman standing with him. His elbow bent, he rested his head on his hand. It was an awkward scene. They just stood, staring down the road.

The driver of the car expected to see a side-by-side headed towards the couple. That’s what made sense to her to explain the odd couple. They were looking for someone to come down the road. But, no one passed. In fact, there was no one else on the road, or in the yards she passed. It felt eerie, but without really an exact reason for it.

At the intersection, she turned onto the farm-to-market that headed south, towards town. You had to keep a close eye on the road in that stretch because there was frequently wildlife, or guard dogs crossing the road. She topped a hill and suddenly, in the sky above her there was a short white streak. It came to a point… or rather, it started at a point and branched off in two small tails.

A meteor? Would be pretty low in the atmosphere to be that well defined and seen during the day. A rocket, maybe? she thought.

“Hey, kids, do you see that?” she asked the two in the backseat.

“Ya. Is it a meteor?”

“Will it crash into the earth?”

They asked.

“I’m not sure” she replied.

“Oh no! Poor dinosaurs - meteor crashing to earth!”

“Wait! WE are the dinosaurs!”

Their imagination took off from there.

As they continued on their route, the white streak stayed ahead of them as if leading the way. They pulled into the parking lot of the dollar store and it just vanished.

Weird, but we’re still alive, I guess. She thought, with a smile, considering her children’s game. They headed into the store.

On the drive home, there were no more streaks in the sky. In fact, there was nothing in the sky. The shade of blue didn’t even waver. No clouds, no planes, no “chem trails.” Just a solid perfect sky blue from horizon to horizon.

She half expected to see the couple still standing, staring at nothing, when they approached that curve. The yard was empty. All the yards were empty and they hadn’t passed a single vehicle their whole trip. She assumed the couple must’ve known whatever it was in the sky would pass by and they’d stepped outside to watch it. Once home, she’d look it up and see if there was anything posted about it. There wasn’t.

Later that evening she went into the city to run some errands. The sun was setting, but the sky was still notably the same shade of blue from horizon to horizon. It was a darker shade of blue, but there were no sunset colors to highlight it. As she looked up to make that observation, a short white streak crossed the sky. This time it was a single solid line, but still short and without a source that she could determine.

I will ask Caelum what’s going on in the sky. He always knows.

“There’s not anything going on that you would see during the day, as you described.” was all he had to say about it.

She shrugged it off and continued about her daily routines.

Weird things kept happening. Or, at least things that felt weird to her.

One thing she noticed was the blue of the sky. That same non-varying shade of blue that just got darker at sunset without any pinks, purples, or oranges. Everywhere she went, she didn’t see anything in the sky. No planes, no birds, no clouds.

Until she mentioned it.

“Neil, have you noticed we’ve not had clouds in several days? It’s fall. Don’t we usually have clouds in the fall?”

Neil replied, “there have been clouds, love, you must’ve just been out at the wrong time of day.”

“Oh. huh. I guess so.”

The next day, the sky was covered in several types of clouds, all day long. Morning came with the light, wispy clouds that spread themselves across the sky, blending into one another. By lunch there were individual “cotton ball” clouds creating shapes that resembled animals that the children made a game of “name that animal” with.

“That’s very clearly an elephant, Chip!”

“No, Mia! That’s a dragon. You’re looking at the tail and saying it’s a trunk!”

By supper time the clouds had turned to storms.

Ana, you’re so silly. Of course the clouds haven’t gone anywhere. She told herself as she ran towards the house, in a vain attempt to avoid getting wet in the downpour. As she opened the door, her ears filled with her kids singing, “Rain drops keep falling on my head.” Ana laughed.

The day after the rain, everything looked greener, which really highlighted the blue of the sky. The empty blue sky. The colors of the world were always brighter after a good rain. She noticed it was quiet, though. No planes. No birds. Where are the birds? Still early in the season to be gone South for Winter

She stopped by the nature center to ask Mavis why the birds were gone so early. She was an ornithophile and would know where the birds were in their migratory process. Dorian was also there and maybe he could shed some light on the weather systems and whether or not the birds being gone so early meant it would be a long, harsh winter.

Both only gave her a confused shake of their head.

“The birds have not left, yet. Perhaps you were just upwind and could not hear them.” Mavis offered.

“Oh, I suppose so!” Ana replied, though she didn’t remember it being particularly windy. When she gave it a thought, she couldn’t remember the last time it was windy. Even in the storm the night before, rain just fell in fat drops from the sky without the blustery bursts of wind splashing it everywhere. “Dorian, don’t most heavy rainstorms - like last nights - come with winds? In fact, don’t we usually have high winds this time of year? The rain just fell straight away last night. No wind. What’s up with that?”

“Ana, are you sure you weren’t under the eaves and the rain was running off the roof, not that you were in the storm? It was perfectly windy last night!” Dorian assured her.

She gave it some thought. She didn’t think so, but honestly, she couldn’t remember for sure. “That’s entirely possible. Thank you Dorian.”

She headed out to finish her errands. The pair watched her leave, with furrowed brows, a little worried for their friend. She was being a little odd, they thought.

As she stopped at the red light, a flock of birds left the trees in front of the courthouse and darted in front of her. Circling around, they fell into a formation that looked to be an arrowhead pointing towards the patch of blue sky that peeks between the buildings. The tip of the bird arrow pointed to a white streak crossing the sky, also in the shape of an arrow. It was moving across the sky in the same direction Ana was traveling. This gave the feeling of once again following a dash across the sky until it disappeared into nothingness.

🎶all we are is dust in the wind 🎶 the radio fuzzed into tune.

Ana brought her attention back to the road ahead of her. On the sidewalk, she saw a small older couple standing and staring into the sky. They stood so their hips touched, the taller one rested his arm on the other’s shoulder with the elbow bent in such a way that he could rest his hand upon it. She almost crashed into the car ahead of her, staring at the couple.

Them, again? Why are they here now? Are they following the meteor or rocket or whatever it is? How do they know where it’s going to be? … I wish Caelum had been more informed about this.

Over the next few weeks, Ana felt like everything was just off. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what she meant by that. It was just a feeling. The blue of the sky, and the emptiness added to the feeling. But, also, she kept thinking she saw that same couple, standing the exact same way all over town. She never saw them, though. It was more like a feeling that they were right there, just out of her peripheral view. When she turned her head, there was never anyone there.

The other thing that was bothering her, but that she had no proof of, was the moon. Every night, when she got home after dark, she would take a moment to pause, look up to the sky and breathe in the universe. Inhale - she gave thanks for the stars, moon, and sun. Exhale - she praised God for being Creator of all. Inhale - awe and wonder at all she understood and didn’t understand of God.. Exhale -a hello and a smile was given to the moon.

So, when one night the moon was a tiny fingernail sliver and two nights later it was full - she noticed. More than the visual notice, though – she felt it.

Chandra was pouring Ana a cup of tea, “you’ve been so busy, dear Ana, the days must just be getting lost on you. The moon is as the moon has always been.”

“That’s a good point. You are right, I have been especially busy lately.”

“I suggest a weekend of rest and reset. Just be without all the doing. See if that doesn’t fix the moon for you.” Chandra wasn’t suggesting something was actually wrong with the moon, but used the imagery that Ana had already spoken.

“You know how difficult that can be for me. You’re kind to remind me.”

On the drive home from Chandra’s the railroad crossing ties came down and made Ana have to take a break. She sat and waited for the train to pass. The birds rushed from the trees, crossed the road and landed on the powerlines. As her gaze followed them, she thought she saw the old couple in the corner of her eye. When she turned her head, they were indeed there - standing under the tree where the birds had just been. Same strange stance, unmoving, and staring into the sky.

The white streak crossed the sky, disappearing behind the trees. The flashing lights went dark, the bells fell silent, and the crossing arms raised to allow Ana to continue her journey. No train had passed. The radio sang out 🎶it’s the end of the world as we know it🎶 That one made Ana worry.

Ana stayed home over the next several days. She tried hard to not tidy the house, or fret over the schedule for next week. She moved the laundry from the dryer to the dining table, but she didn’t fold the clothes. The children played happily about her feet as she sat on the couch with a book. She tried so hard to read, but her mind would not focus. As much as she tried, she could not rest and reset. Her mind kept returning to the old couple, the meteor or rocket - whatever it was, the birds, rain, moon, all of it. Her children sang in their game, 🎶Closing time, you don't have to go home But you can't stay here🎶 How do they even know this song? she had to wonder.

This staying home thing was making her feel crazier than she had before Chandra suggested it. She decided to run to the dollar store in town. This time, the kids stayed home with Dad. She took the other route to the main road, avoiding the curve where she’d first seen the old couple. If she’d gone that way, would they have been there?

She got on the farm-to-market and began the watch for animals darting in front of her. She also kept glancing up, fully expecting to see a white flash across the sky. There was none. She got her shopping done and headed home, a little disappointed, and determined to drive by where the old couple should have been, if she’d gone the other way.

Approaching the curve, she saw them! They were not facing the direction she expected. I’ve only ever seen the back of them! she realized. She passed by them, craning her neck to try to get a good look at their faces as she passed - they turned their head with the direction of the curve as she passed them on it, preventing her from seeing their face.

Stop sign.

Birds danced ahead of her, in all directions. Their song sounded like screams, not music.

There was the white streak she knew would be there, only it was not going the direction she expected.

It was headed directly towards her and getting bigger as it got lower and lower and closer and closer. She realized it was going to land somewhere very near to where she was. She punched the gas to try to turn and get out of its path. The car would not move.

This was going to be a direct impact, not a nearby incident.

As it closed in, Ana - Anastasia Aisling Mirek - covered her head with her arms, leaned forward into the steering wheel and, as much as she could, tucked her body in - bracing for impact.

Everything flashed white. The world roared in a whoosh sound.

Ana was not dead.

She lifted her head and looked around. She was at the stop sign, facing the other way - as if going into town. The sky wore a beautiful shade of blue, dotted with puffy clouds. She proceeded through the stop sign on her route into town. Her children’s voices came from the backseat “that one’s a dragon” “yes! I see it!”

The car made the turn around the curve and there stood the little old couple in their yard, near the edge of the road. The taller one raised his arm and waved as they passed. The shorter one was reaching the mailbox. Ana continued down the road, made the turn onto the farm-to-market that would take them to the dollar store in town. Deer lined the side of the road, so she drove extra careful. As they pulled into the parking lot, an airplane passed overhead, leaving a bit of a trail behind it.

Ana sat and stared at it. She had this uneasy feeling that she was forgetting something.

Her children’s voices dragged her out of her thoughts. “Are we going in, mommy?” they finished their tasks in town and returned home, where Ana checked off her to-do list, with the radio blasting

🎶I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Letting go and trusting when I cannot see

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing

Surely every season You are good to me🎶